


Stay With Us

by Thunder_of_Dragons



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baby Harry Potter, Canon Isolation, F/M, Fidelius Charms, Isolation, Multi, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:02:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23380633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunder_of_Dragons/pseuds/Thunder_of_Dragons
Summary: A week before the Fidelius Charm will be cast over the Potters' home in Godric's Hollow, Sirius has a suggestion to keep the Potters better hidden, and it's one that does not include Peter Pettigrew.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 19
Kudos: 177
Collections: HP Triad!Fest





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Prompt #64 of the 2020 HP Triad!Fest: "Sirius stays the secret keeper and goes into hiding with James&Lily&Harry."
> 
> Many, many thanks to CheekyTorah for their cheerleading through the many months it took to write this fic, as well as the fantastic job they did modding the 2020 HP Triad!Fest. A huge thanks also goes to EvAEleanor for their eager betaing and honest opinions on this fic, even at the last minute.

Lily sighed as she set baby Harry down in his crib. He would be fine for now if she left him laying on his scarlet blanket, gripping his knitted Snitch tightly in his right hand and sucking on his left thumb. After all, she wasn’t going anywhere. 

Lily turned around in the light golden room, resting her hands on her hips as she pierced the long-haired man standing in the doorway with the full force of her stare. Why she’d agreed to let this man be godfather to her son, she’d never know. “You can’t be serious.”

Sirius rolled his eyes and held up his hands. “I know. I _know,_ ” he said, looking at the ground, avoiding her stare. “Even I’ll admit this is out of character for me, but I’m completely serious.”

“Go downstairs,” Lily whispered, shaking her head. “I need to make sure Harry’s down for the night. We’ll discuss this later when James gets out of the bath. It’s the first time he’s been able to properly bathe in two days, and we’re not interrupting him for this.”

Lily turned around without bothering to see if Sirius would follow her directions and leave the room. Her focus needed to be on Harry, not Sirius. Their little family had been in hiding for months already, but their decision to go under the Fidelius Charm next week would make them even safer, she reminded herself. It was getting a bit weary, never leaving the house and only seeing other members of the Order of the Phoenix. Lily took a deep breath and centered herself, remembering that they were doing this for Harry, for his future, for a world outside their cottage that she hoped he would be able to see one day.

* * *

When Lily finally came downstairs, she noticed that James was still either in the bathroom or their bedroom, and Sirius wasn’t lounging on their couch as she’d expected. Lily continued into the kitchen, assuming Sirius had decided to help himself to a snack like he always did when he was over. She could only hope he was helping himself to the leftovers from the stew she’d made that night. Harry had made a mess of himself at dinner, and she and James hadn’t had a chance to clean up from dinner yet. If Sirius helped himself to the stew, that was one less mess for her to put away.

Instead, Lily walked into the entryway and found a spotless kitchen. Harry’s high chair had been moved out of the way and placed against one of the cream walls, the spilled baby food removed from his tray. The oak table, marble counters, and tiled floor were free of crumbs. The stew pot was no longer on the stove, and with all of these changes, Lily was nearly afraid this wasn’t her house. 

Standing by the cast iron sink, Sirius was waving his wand, directing the dishes to clean themselves and return to their homes in the cupboards.

Lily stood in the entryway and watched as Sirius continued cleaning the dishes. She didn’t want to startle him out of all his hard work, and she didn’t know what to say anyway. Lily hadn’t known that Sirius even _knew_ cleaning spells.

When he finished with the dishes, Sirius summoned three bottles of butterbeer, levitated them, and turned around. 

Sirius faltered as he stared wide-eyed at Lily standing in the doorframe. 

The bottles fell.

Lily whipped out her wand and cast her own Levitation Charm before anything could break. “What’s going on, Sirius?”

“I thought we could share some drinks while we waited for Jamie to come down.” Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. “Was that a bad idea?”

Lily shook her head, her auburn hair swinging in her face. “No, it’s not a bad idea.” She grinned and levitated the bottles onto the counter. “But I’ve got a better one.” She grabbed two glasses from an overhead cupboard, handed them to Sirius, and said, “Go sit on the couch. I’m still not letting you know where we keep the firewhisky.”

Sirius shook his head and left the room.

* * *

A few minutes later, Lily brought a third glass and a bottle of Ogden’s Finest into the living room. She folded one leg under her as she sat on the other end of the brown leather couch from Sirius, pushing aside a red throw pillow that read, “I’m a Keeper!” with three Quidditch hoops embroidered behind it.

“You aren’t to say a word to James about the firewhisky,” she warned Sirius. “He doesn’t know I bought it. If he asks, you brought it over.”

Sirius nodded, and Lily opened the firewhisky. She poured them each a hefty glass, handed one to Sirius, and then leaned back against the couch.

“Tell me, when did the infamous Sirius Black, playboy of Hogwarts, Marauder extraordinaire, and godfather to my son, learn household cleaning spells?” Lily asked. “And more importantly, why were you using them in my house?”

Sirius choked on a sip of his drink.

“Uh, eh, ah, well...” He closed his eyes and took another sip. “This won’t leave this room, will it?”

Lily nodded and smirked. “Oh, I’ll have to tell James. He won’t believe it.”

“He already knows,” Sirius said quietly. “His mum taught me those spells. She said there was no way she’d let one of her sons go out into the world without knowing how to clean up after himself.” He took one last swig and finished his glass. “Mrs. Potter was a good woman. It’s a shame she couldn’t be here to see her grandson.”

Lily didn’t know what to say; this was a side of Sirius she hadn’t seen before. He almost seemed mature. Letting silence fall between them, both she and Sirius stared into their glasses until they heard movement on the stairs.

“Lils, did you want a turn in the bathroom while I clean the kitchen?” James asked as he hopped down the stairs. “That was the best bath I’ve taken in ages. Thank you so much for—” James stopped on the bottom landing and stared at the living room couch. “Siri, what are you doing here?”

Lily poured another glass of Ogden’s Finest and handed it to her husband. “He wants to change our plan for the Fidelius Charm. I invited him in and asked him to wait to discuss it until you finished your bath. I put Harry to sleep, and Sirius decided to clean the kitchen for us.” Lily smiled. “Apparently, he wanted to give the cleaning charms your mum taught him a test run.”

James took the offered drink and looked over his longtime best friend. Half of Sirius’ ebony hair had been French braided out of his face, and his tanned cheeks had a rosy sheen to them. Sirius’ leather jacket was looking well-worn, and James wondered how much longer he’d have to be in hiding. Would the jacket still be wearable when James could finally make it to a store to gift Sirius with another?

“Glad to see she taught you something, mate,” James joked as he sat down in a brown leather lounge chair. “What did you want to change about the plans? You’ll still be our Secret Keeper when we cast it next week, right?”

Sirius nodded, making eye contact with both of them. “Right. I just thought it might be safer if I stayed in hiding with you. They can’t try to coerce me into giving up your location if they can’t find my location either.”

James watched the liquid in his glass as he swirled it around, thinking over the remarkably mature decision his best mate was proposing. “What do you think, Lils?”

“I have my concerns,” Lily said, “but it does make sense. It’s the best way to keep Harry safe, and I would do anything for Harry.”

James looked at the staircase, the glow of the fireplace reflecting in his eyes as he thought about his son peacefully sleeping upstairs. “We’re in agreement then.”


	2. Chapter 2

A week later, Sirius arrived at the Potters’ home in Godric’s Hollow with all of his worldly belongings. He’d never really felt at home anywhere, so he’d found it best not to keep many possessions; it was easier to move from place to place that way, and all of his shrunken items could fit easily within the sidecar of his flying motorbike.

Sirius grabbed his knapsack and tossed his helmet into the sidecar. He wasn’t concerned about it. They were putting the entire property under the Fidelius Charm, so nobody would be able to take his motorbike or anything in it as long as it stayed within the property’s limits. 

Heading up the stone pathway, Sirius took in the cottage he’d be living in for possibly the rest of his life. He’d be stuck inside the beautiful wooden structure with only a few windows to look out of and some sparse grounds on which he could walk the perimeter of the house. He’d probably feel trapped, but it was for the best. Nobody knew when this blasted war would end. He was doing this for his godson, and for James and Lily. They’d just have to hope the rest of the Order of the Phoenix could squash He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and hopefully they’d be able to do it before Harry was supposed to go to Hogwarts. Assuming there would be a Hogwarts left to go to. 

Taking a deep breath of the fresh afternoon air, Sirius continued up the path and knocked on the front door. James cracked the door open, his wand already out, and asked, “What’s your full name?”

“Sirius Orion Black,” replied Sirius.

“Which bed did you sleep in at Hogwarts?” asked James.

“I always slept on the one in between you and Moony.” Sirius chuckled. “Well, always except for that one year that Peter decided he was afraid of everything and insisted we arrange our beds in a triangle around him.”

“When did I propose to Lily?”

“You bloody wanker, you didn’t propose to Lily,” Sirius nearly shouted. “She beat you to it, but she lets you tell everyone that you made a grand romantic gesture because it makes her feel like a princess.”

James rolled his eyes towards the sky but opened the door further. “Come on in, but be quiet,” he said. “Harry’s taking his afternoon nap, and we have details to work out unless you don’t want to have anywhere to sleep.”

Sirius nodded and stepped inside, gently closing the door to the outside world behind him.

* * *

James had forgotten that Harry hadn’t been taking very long afternoon naps lately, and Harry was awake again almost immediately after Sirius entered the cottage. Lily went upstairs, attempting to calm Harry back into a longer nap, and James decided he might as well get a head start on preparing tea. 

Sirius followed James into the kitchen.

“We’re having stew again. We’re about out of groceries, so I hope that’s alright with you, Siri.”

“I’ll eat whatever, Jamie,” Sirius replied. “I’ve already got plans to meet Remus in town tomorrow to pass along the secret, so I can stop by the grocer’s then. He can bring us the groceries for the rest of the time we’re here. I’m meeting with Marlene the day after, and she’s staying pretty well hidden, too, just in case something happens to Rem.”

James nodded and began pulling vegetables and meat out of the icebox. “That sounds good. I’m sad we can’t let Peter in, but he’s never seemed comfortable around Harry, and the fewer people who know, the better.” James set out a knife and a cutting board, getting ready to do prep work for the stew. “It was wise of us to choose Marlene instead; Lily would end up going crazy without having another girl to talk to at some point.” 

James took a look around. “Right, we’ve got meat and veggies; now, I just need to figure out where Lily put the bread dough she started this morning.”

James began opening and closing cupboards around the kitchen, and Sirius walked up to the counter where James had laid out the stew ingredients. How hard could it be to cut up some potatoes and carrots? It was practically potions making, though he’d never excelled in that at school. He’d always partnered with Remus or Lily, and they’d never let him do anything.

“Sirius, you don’t have to do that,” James cautioned. “I don’t mind fixing dinner. Lily and I take turns, and you’re kind of our guest now.”

Sirius shook his head. “Nonsense! You’re stuck with me for who knows how long now. I need to pull my own weight. Secret Keeper or not, Lily might kick me to the curb if I just act like a guest all the time.”

“Suit yourself.” James shrugged and hopped on a chair to see if the bread dough was on top of the icebox. “Aha! Here it is.” He grabbed a large yellow bowl covered with a tea towel and brought it down with him. “Nothing beats fresh baked bread with evening stew.” James pottered about as he set the kitchen to rights now that he’d found the bread dough. “After Hogwarts, Lily went on a celebratory holiday to France for a month. If she hasn’t made baguettes when you’ve been over yet, you’re in for a treat later.”

Sirius nodded, carefully chopping away. “James, I think this onion’s gone bad.”

“What makes you say that?” James asked as he turned towards the cutting board. “It looks fine to me. What’s wrong with it?”

“What’s wrong with it? Sirius looked at his longtime best friend, tears rolling down his cheeks. “It’s making my eyes burn, Prongs! We need to get it out of the house before its toxic fumes reach Harry!”

James chuckled, cast the Bubble Head Charm around both himself and Sirius, and took the knife from Sirius’ hand. “That’s what onions do, Siri. Don’t tell me you’ve never chopped an onion before?”

Sirius glared at James, nonchalantly fingering his wand and turning James’ normally messy black mop into a lime green afro. “No, no, I haven’t. They’re nasty little buggers, and I shan’t be cutting them anymore.”

“Sometimes I wonder how you and Remus survive in your flat. Do you just eat take-out for every meal?”

“No,” Sirius indignantly replied. “Sometimes we eat with you and Lily, and sometimes Remus’ mum sends leftovers back with him after he visits her.”

“Really?” Lily questioned as she walked into the kitchen, Harry on her hip. “Do you even know how to cook, Sirius?” She looked at James’s head, stared up at the ceiling, and took a deep inhale. “I’m not going to ask about that.”

Sirius looked at Lily and then down at the floor. How had he never noticed the light pink trails going through the mainly cream tiles before? He needed to spend more time looking at floors. In fact, he had no idea if he’d ever looked at his own — 

“Well, you’re going to learn how to cook while you’re here,” Lily insisted. “Should something happen to us, you’re still Harry’s godfather. I won’t have him being raised on a diet of take-out. You’ll have to be able to make home-cooked meals for him; they’re what every growing boy needs.” Lily picked Harry up and held him at eye level. “Isn’t that right, Harry? Doesn’t Uncle Sirius need to be able to cook for you?”

Harry cooed and tried to grab his mother’s glasses.

“To be fair, Lils,” James interjected, “Sirius was trying to chop the vegetables for the stew. He’s never chopped an onion before, but he did make a valiant effort.”

Lily sat down with Harry in her lap. “It’s a start. It seems like there will be plenty of time for him to learn, though.” She looked over the two men in her kitchen and then back at Harry, taking in his wide green eyes as he tried to grab her glasses again. “Sirius, come sit down. We need to talk; James can finish prepping the stew.”

Sirius nodded and grabbed two glasses from an overhead cabinet before joining Lily. He pulled out his wand, cast Aguamenti on both of their glasses, and took a sip of water. “What’s on your mind?”

“James and I have been thinking through the logistics of you staying with us,” Lily replied. “We’ve only got the two bedrooms, ours and Harry’s.”

“I can transfigure the couch downstairs each night,” Sirius responded. “That doesn’t bother me.” 

Lily nodded. “Well, that’s solved then. Harry usually sleeps through the night now, so he shouldn’t wake you. We’ll try to keep him in the nursery if he wakes before you.”

“No,” said Sirius, shaking his head. “That’s not necessary. I’m his godfather. Let me help out.”

“Are you sure?” James asked, looking up from the potatoes he was chopping. “Lily says he’s sleeping through the night now, but he still wakes up all the time. Lily and I rarely get to sleep through the night, especially since that’s the only time we can manage any cleaning. You aren’t the parent here, and at least one of us deserves to be well-rested.”

Sirius shook his head and reached across the table to let Harry play with one of his fingers. “I’d like to help both of you to be better rested, if it’s all the same to you. I can’t just lounge around while the two of you do everything.” He held Harry’s hand tightly. “I need to pull my weight if we’re going to make this work, even though I’ll probably do a lot of things wrong.”

Lily raised her eyebrows and picked Harry up, smiling brightly into his small, twinkling eyes. “Well, if that’s the case, it’s your turn.” She walked around the table, settling Harry into Sirius’s open arms. Lily pushed a stray hair out of Sirius’s face before Harry could latch onto it, and then she grabbed the yellow bowl off of the kitchen counter. They’d need bread with their stew after all.


	3. Chapter 3

_Three Months Later_

“Lil-y!” Sirius shouted, his voice breaking as he adopted a panicked tone.

Lily stuck her head into the kitchen, quickly biting her lip as she took in the new wardrobe alterations Harry had so thoughtfully provided for Sirius. She was surprised it had taken this long for Harry to spew baby vomit all over his godfather.

“What seems to be the matter, Siri?” Lily smirked, having been on the receiving end of Harry’s upset stomach multiple times.

“How can you miss it?” Sirius asked, holding Harry out in front of him. “This little wanker has sicked up on me for the third time today. I’m starting to think he’s doing it on purpose.”

Lily giggled, waving her wand as she cast a silent Scourgify. “I’m sure he’s not doing it on purpose; he’s only 14 months old.”

“No,” Sirius argued, “he’s definitely doing it on purpose.” Sirius shook his head, thankful he’d kept his hair up today. “I don’t know what Prongs was thinking, having a son. Harry’ll turn out just like him; no offense, Lils.”

“Just go take a shower,” Lily suggested. “A good cleaning charm can only do so much, and the air’s already getting so much drier in here; the cleaning charms will only dry out your skin more.”

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows together. “I can’t,” he said slowly. “James is in the shower, and we’ve only got the one shower. I’ll have to wait for Jamie to get out.”

“Just go,” Lily sighed, rolling her eyes as she plucked her son out of Sirius’s hands. “James won’t mind a bit. We’re all in this together, and this was bound to happen at some point. Besides, you shared a dormitory for seven years; I’m sure you’ve shared stranger things than a shower.”

Biting his lip, Sirius pushed his chair back from the table. “You’re, uh, you’re sure you don’t mind, Lils?”

“Nonsense,” Lily shrugged as she pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. “James and I have already talked about it. It’s difficult to share one bathroom between three adults, much less three adults and a child. This was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“You really mean that?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“If you’re asking if I am telling you to go get naked with my husband to make sure you’ve gotten all of my son’s sick off of you,” Lily elaborated, pushing Sirius out of his chair, “then the answer is yes, I want you to get in the shower with him. Now, hurry up before I change my mind. I know just how great he looks when he’s naked; be happy I’m sharing the view with you.”

Sirius smiled shyly and ambled out of the kitchen, hiding an eye roll as Lily bumped her hip into his.


	4. Chapter 4

_Two Months Later_

“Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree leaves;  
When the Snitch zooms, the broomstick will rock;  
When the broom breaks, the broomstick will fall;  
And down will come baby, broomstick and all.”

“Siri, you’ve got it all wrong,” James moaned while Sirius slowly rocked Harry to an off-beat rhythm. “Hand him here.”

Sirius rolled his eyes and passed Harry into James’s waiting arms. “You try it when you haven’t slept in 29 hours.” Sirius yawned wide enough for a Snitch to fly into his open mouth. “I still don’t know any of Lily’s Muggle songs, and we both know my mother never sang to me growing up. I don’t even know if there _are_ any Magical lullabies.”

“There are,” James whispered, rubbing Harry’s back as he bounced lightly, “but Harry doesn’t like them anywhere near as much as he likes Lily’s Muggle ones. Usually, that one puts him right to—” Harry wailed in James’s ear, and James exaggerated his bounces— “sleep. Shh, shh, it’s okay, little man. Daddy’s here. Nothing’s gonna get you.”

“Has he ever done this before, James?” Sirius asked. “It’s not like him to stay up ‘til two in the morning screaming our bloody ears off. You don’t have any sort of potion or spell to get him to sleep?”

James smiled sadly and shook his head. “No, and it’s been ages since Harry’s been like this. He must be teething again.” James nodded to the lounge chair in the corner. “Transfigure that into a rocking chair for me, would you? Sometimes the sitting and rocking helps.”

Sirius nodded slowly, pulled his wand out from the sleeve of his leather jacket, and cast on the lounge chair. Though he’d been quite good at Transfiguration at Hogwarts, this was certainly not his best work. The chair was neon blue with red slats up the back of it. The curved rockers were both warped, which wouldn’t allow for a smooth rock. Merlin, he wasn’t _that_ old now, was he? Shouldn’t he be able to stay up for days on end without a care in the world?

Sighing, James sank onto the rocking chair and attempted to begin the smooth back-and-forth motion that had been known to calm Harry in the past. “Siri, do me a favour?”

“Yeah?”

“Go upstairs and crawl into bed with Lily. I’ll take it from here; you need sleep like a Niffler needs gold.”

“But, Prongs, that’s your _wife_ you’re telling me to get in bed with.” Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Think this through for a minute.”

James lifted a corner of his mouth before grimacing as Harry grabbed a clump of his curls. “We’ve talked about it. If we’re all to exist with one another, and to care for Harry while doing it, we need proper sleep. You’ve seen our bed; it’s plenty big enough. Besides, you’ve showered naked with me loads of times now; at least Lily sleeps in pajamas.”

Sirius bit his lower lip, wondering what he should do. In the months that he’d been staying with the Potters, the realization that he was attracted to both Lily and James had hit him like a powerfully cast Depulso. If he’d known before they’d cast the Fidelius Charm, well, he would have found somewhere else to hole up until the War was over. Considering the circumstances, Sirius thought he’d been ignoring these attractions rather well, but could he continue to maintain his cool if he did what James was asking of him?

Maybe, just maybe, there was a way. “Of course, and I don’t take up much space as Padfoot anyway. She’ll hardly know I’m there.”

“No,” James said sternly. “I know you never sleep as well when you’re Padfoot. I need you to be well-rested. Crawl into bed as Sirius. She won’t mind a bit, I promise.”

Sirius nodded, brushed Harry’s hair back as he said good night, and then began his trek up the staircase.


	5. Chapter 5

_One Month Later_

Sirius cast a monitoring charm as he closed the door to the nursery.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of lavender that always seemed to permeate the upstairs landing. Lily. Lily would be the one responsible for that, he decided, considering the small collection of plants she kept in all of the windowsills.

Sirius sighed, knowing this could very well be the last time he ever got to tuck Harry into bed, and he was determined to remember it for the rest of his life, even if he quite possibly wouldn’t be alive much longer. They were living through a war after all.

Taking one last glance at Harry’s door, Sirius headed down the beech staircase. Lily and James should be waiting for him. He’d said he wanted to talk to them tonight, and they were pretty good listeners considering the only people they had to talk to were the people stuck in this cottage. This decision had been difficult, and it would certainly hurt, but Sirius had to keep in mind what was best for Harry, for James, and for Lily.

Even if it meant he wouldn’t be there to see them at their best.

A hush settled in the living room as Sirius stepped off the stairs. “Er, Harry’s all tucked in for the night. Is everything all right?”

“Course, Siri,” James answered with a perk of his lip, settling his arm on the back of the couch. “We were just discussing something we wanted to ask you.”

Sirius furrowed his brow and gently sank into the leather armchair. “Oh, well, uh, I’ve got something to say first,” Sirius whispered, “if that’s all right, of course.”

Lily nodded, leaning forward with her forearms on her knees as she gazed at Sirius. “What’s on your mind?”

Summoning his Gryffindor courage, Sirius took a deep breath and exhaled, “I think it would be best if I left. I know Remus is letting out my half of the flat, but I can make other arrangements. I could even be out of here tomorrow, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

Sirius knew he was making the right decision as he watched Lily reach for James’ hand. He couldn’t possibly continue intruding on their marriage. They had a life they needed to be making for themselves, as much as they could make a life trapped within these wards.

“Sirius?” Lily asked quietly. “Why do you want to leave? Have we done something wrong?”

“No,” Sirius replied, his lip quirking upward against his will. “No, it’s certainly not anything that the two of you have done.” He took a deep breath, gathering his resolve. “Things have changed between the two of you since I got here.” Sirius held up a hand, and James closed his mouth. “Don’t try to deny it; they have. You’ve let me sleep with Lily, James, and you’ve let me shower with James, Lily. Those aren’t normal things that a married couple lets a friend do.” Sirius shook his head, stopping Lily from interrupting as he knew she was about to do from her pursed lips. “Then there’s Harry. Harry. Did you know that today he called me ‘Papa’? I’ve been here three months, and he’s calling me his father. He has a mum and a papa already, and now he thinks he’s got a mum and two papas. I’m not his father; I have to leave before it’s too late, before he really believes that he’s got three parents. I can’t let myself break up your marriage or confuse Harry any longer by staying here. I’ll move out within the week, or even sooner, if that’s what you want.”

Sirius closed his eyes and focused on taking a few more deep breaths. He knew it would hurt to say goodbye, but he hadn’t expected the ache in his chest to be so strong, like a fist gripping his heart. 

Sirius didn’t miss the soft footsteps crossing the living room. James. He never wore shoes in the house, only socks. Of course, James would have to leave; James would probably never speak to him again considering this choice would put James and his family in danger. He’d have to live with it, Sirius supposed. It would be but a small price to pay to avoid screwing up all of their lives.

Opening his eyes wide, Sirius was surprised to feel a weight settling on his armrest. James was supposed to be leaving, not sitting and sharing his chair with him. How could they have misunderstood what he’d said?

“Siri, you always were just a bit slow on the uptake,” James whispered, reaching up and pushing Sirius’s hair behind his ear.

“What do you mean?” Sirius asked, wondering how Jamie, his Jamie, could be so kind and gentle with him, especially in front of Lily. He’d said he was leaving, hadn’t he?

Lily settled herself on the other armrest, crossing her legs and resting her arm behind Sirius’s head. Now Sirius was completely flummoxed. This wasn’t how he’d thought this would go at all.

“Sirius,” Lily began, “you’re right that things have changed between me and James, but that’s not always a bad thing.”

“It is if it ends up tearing apart your marriage,” Sirius said, feeling somewhat trapped between these two people he was leaving.

Lily smiled softly, one dimple appearing in her right cheek. “You aren’t tearing apart our marriage. Has our relationship changed? Yes, but that’s okay. We still love each other just as much as we did when we got married, possibly even more now.” Lily leaned in, resting her head on top of Sirius’s. “The dynamic has changed, certainly, now that you’re living here with us, but there’s no limit to the amount of love in our hearts.”

“We can love you, too, even more than we could have imagined, even as we still love each other,” James whispered, brushing his thumb along Sirius’s cheek. “As for Harry, there’s nothing wrong with him having three parents. That’s actually what we wanted to talk to you about.”

“Will you stay with us?” Lily asked. “Move in with us? Make this partnership a triad, officially? Adopt Harry as your own?”

Sirius closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling James’s rough skin against his cheek and Lily’s hair tickling his forehead. This was the last thing he’d expected when he’d planned out this conversation with them. He hadn’t dared to hope that maybe, just maybe, they’d want him to stay. They’d want him to stay because they cared for him, too. He’d expected shouting, outcries, angry outbursts, possibly, considering he’d be putting them in danger again. 

But this was none of those things.

This was so much better.

“Of course I will.”


End file.
